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Is there a way to clean all windows drivers to allow for a change of motherboard

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iphigenie:
Hi

Normally when I change the motherboard/chip of a computer I just reinstall windows. That works. Avoids conflict.

But this is my old main PC and it has a LOT of things configured and installed. I really really dont want to reinstall it all. It takes days. That's why I made an image 2 years ago and update it when needed... but that wont help now.

At this point I might have shelled out for the Acronis 11 upgrade and the additional module, but I think it was Carol who said it doesnt work as expected.

So I am considering trying to do it manually.

I tried uninstalling (when available) or deleting from the hardware list all of the underlying drivers but it wont let me delete them all.

I have installed all the new drivers and they seem to be the only ones active, but I am not getting the kind of responsiveness I got on the old hardware, and this is much better hardware, so obviously this is not optimal.

I just thought there might be a tool out there that clears all drivers that I could try. Clear all, reboot, redetect, tada, clean PC... I doubt that works but it seems possible that some driver admin tool exists with that feature "clean my board".... I can dream!

My next step if I cant find that is a reinstall "on top" but I dont think this will clear the drivers list, will it?

Another idea might be to find a way to export all the useful registry bits except for hardware, so i dont have to reinstall every piece of software... backup, do a clean reinstall, restore all app settings... but I dont think it is that easy...

I think i could spend days trying to come up with a solution so might as well spend days on a clean install, bust still, I thought I would just ask here...

Lashiec:
I see two ways to do it: Using programs like DriverCleaner or Driver Sweeper, but I don't know if those would provide a complete cleanup of all drivers as Driver Sweeper, for example, only cleans a few selected packages from various hardware companies.

The other way is following this kind of guide that Jon Stokes posted not too long ago on the Kit blog in Ars Technica, based on a thread in the Open Forum of the same site that is linked at the beginning.

Ralf Maximus:
I've restored drive images from one laptop to another, different brands, different hardware.

Upon startup Windows goes apeshit with "found new hardware" messages.  When it settles down, I give it the driver disc for the target laptop.  Eventually (after a few reboots) the "found new hardware" dialog stops popping up and everything works.

Are there unused driver files on the hard drive?  Yes. 

Bits of old driver crap in the registry?  Of course. 

Product activation?  Naturally.

But all the hardware works and Windows seems happy.  It's not the most aesthetically pleasing Windows reinstalls, but sometimes it's the only option... especially if your backup image is an all-or-nothing kind of thing that doesn't support mounting or browsing.

mouser:
I've had similar feeling and approach as Ralf.

nosh:
I wouldn't expect Windows to slow down just coz you upgraded your mobo + drivers, not unless you upgraded to a different Windows version. Have you tweaked your BIOS for optimal settings?

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